cries of David

All day the hot Middle Eastern sun had beaten down on the barren terrain like a 

fire scorching the bottom of a kettle. 

From the rising to the setting of the Israeli sun, the vastness of the desert seemed uninhabitable and devoid of life. The forced quiet that the hot summer day brought upon the people of the land seemed like a hateful display of the power it held over of their lives. No one dared venture out during the middle of the day, lest they scald the soles of their feet.

The contrast of that eerie daytime quiet to the 

perfect silence of the night struck David as he sat on a rock looking over his flock.

A blanket of coolness swept across the land and whispered in the breeze. This was his favorite time of day. As he glanced across the grazing sheep looking out for the danger that lurked around every tree his mind went wild. He’d worry about his sheep, remembering the lamb that he’d lost to that bear last week. How thoughtless he had been to let that happen. It hurt him to think that little creature had suffered due to his own negligence.

He worried about his friend, dear Jonathan. 

What most people probably thought was the charmed life of a Prince was really not. Few people understood the pressure that poor Jonathan felt from his father the King.

Those and a million other worries would start pooling up in his mind. These worries would start like a slow drip of water falling into the depths of a well. As they hit the bottom, each drip would resonate louder than the first until all David could hear was the echoing of a thousand anxious worries.

It was times like this that David yearned for good advice. Who could tell him how to be there for his friend Jonathan?

As he searched the shadows for wild animals that threatened he and his sheep, he yearned to have a Shepherd watching over him.

And after fretting and mulling things over in his troubled heart David would finally call out to God in Heaven.

“Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters. Do not let the flood waters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me. Answer me, LORD, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me. Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble. Come near and rescue me; deliver me because of my foes.”

~Psalm 69:14-18

And then, out of nowhere, a peace would come over him, like a blanket wrapped around a shivering child. The peace of God would hold his heart with a strength and love that took his breath away. And he would cry out to the Father again,

 “As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more… Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray do not forsake me, my God… Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths  Of the earth your will again bring me up… My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you – I whom you have delivered.”

~Psalm 70:14, 17, 18, 20, 23

With a heart full of peace he’d look up at the myriads of stars and he’d wonder at majesty that God displayed in the skies. To think that such an awesome and powerful God loved him and cared for his woes overwhelmed him.

“Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. 

Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. 

Amen and Amen.

~Psalm 72:18-19